Book of the Week: ‘Three Pennies’
Three PenniesMelanie Crowder2017, 181 pagesChildren’s Fiction (Ages 8-12) Marin has been bounced from foster home to foster home ever since her birth mother left seven years ago. She only has a pocket-size edition of the I Ching, a ceramic piggy bank and some fuzzy memories to remember her by. If only Marin could find her mother, they would be a family again. But the foster care system has other plans. Marin is now available for...
The Yogi: Tom Waits, yoga and the car salesman
“How you do anything is how you do everything.” Ever heard that one before? I always attributed it to the great Tom Waits, the eclectic singer-songwriter, carnival barker and modern-day troubadour. The quote has been used, re-used and tossed around so much that I’m not sure where it originated. Since I’m a musician, and fond of Tom Waits, I’ll let the phrase linger with him. It’s been used by authors, accountants, coaches and...
The Arts: There’s a full slate of exhibits to see this week
As you can see, there are a lot of art shows going on right now. You should go see one. League of N.H. Craftsmen Fairy Tales and Fantasies Through: June 15 The Grodin Collection Through: Ongoing Location: 49 S. Main St., Suite 100 Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Kimball Jenkins Robert Dorr Through: April 30 N.H. Weavers Guild Through: May 16 Location: 266 N. Main St. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30...
Local nurse practitioner fights cancer with modified triathlon
Monitor staffCancer takes many different shapes, and Renee Plodzik is fighting back the same way.Three years ago, Plodzik started hosting Fit4acause bootcamp, “as a way to engage the community in a donation-only workout to raise money for patients with cancer,” she said. Last year, she began the Fit4acause Triple Challenge, a family-friendly, non-competitive modified triathlon, as another way to generate funds to fight cancer. The...
Concord Young Professionals Network: Lacie Smith is climbing all the 4,000-footers
The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce’s Concord Young Professionals Network (CYPN) introduces you to our “Young Professional of the Month,” Lacie Smith. Each month the CYPN Steering Committee recommends a young professional in the community it thinks Concord Insider readers would enjoy getting to know better. How old are you? 29 Where do you live? Concord. Where do you currently work? I’m currently working as a tax senior accountant...
This Week in Concord History
Aug. 13, 1852: The tallest flagpole in New Hampshire history is erected in the State House yard, put up to celebrate Franklin Pierce’s nomination by the Democrats to be president. It is 143 feet tall, higher than the State House dome. First flown is an emblem with pictures of Pierce and Sen. Rufus de Vane King of Alabama, his running mate. Aug. 13, 1979: At the official opening of his presidential campaign headquarters in Concord,...
Entertainment: Plenty of laughs and magic in the capital city this week
In a slight departure from the norm, the entertainment schedule in Concord is a little more theater- and comedy-heavy than usual this week. The Cap Center will play host to much of this stage work, so make sure you check out their website to check on tickets. Music Tuesday Poor Howard at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m.Wednesday Paul Heckel at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m.Thursday Will Hatch at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Bach’s Lunch Concert:...
Book of the Week: ‘The Farmer’s Son’
The Farmer’s Son:Calving Season on a Family FarmJohn Connell2018, 243 pagesNonfiction John’s family has been in farming in Ireland for generations. But as a young man John left the farming life to pursue a writing career. He lived in Australia and Canada and wrote articles and books. But things went wrong, and John came home to Ireland to work on the farm. John became depressed, and writes honestly about how it affected him. A variety...
New Hampshire Craft Beer Week is back
It’s no secret that we love beer and will look for any excuse to try a new brew and then write about it. So when we heard that N.H, Craft Beer Week was back for another go around starting Friday, we jumped on the opportunity to expand our horizons. Over the next eight pages, you’ll see that we visited a number of breweries outside of our typical coverage area to give you the lowdown on what’s out there for beer. But on this page,...
Making Good Health Simple: Want to improve your health? Try doing nothing
Before the advent of antibiotics, the most common thing a doctor would recommend to a sick patient was to drink water and get plenty of rest. This meant drinking water around the clock and no activities whatsoever (literally). The benefits of hydrating and doing nothing when someone is ill have always been the same – you feel better and you become healthier. Although we know this to be a universal truth, the same principle is rarely...
Take a tour of all of the region’s breweries and brewpubs – we did
At long last, the week we’ve all been waiting for is finally upon us – New Hampshire Craft Beer Week. That’s right, from this Friday through April 15, the entirety of the Granite State will be celebrating the beauty and the wonder that is high quality craft beer. More specifically, it’s a week meant to focus on the beer that’s made right here in New Hampshire, and the people who make it. On the previous page we gave you an idea of...
Entertainment: ‘Constellations’ at Hatbox Theatre highlights a very busy summer week
Music Tuesday Michael Walsh at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Nevers’ Second Regiment Band at Presidential Oaks at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Joel Cage at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Steven Chagnon at Courtyard by Marriott at 6 p.m. Karen Greiner at Concord Craft Brewing Co. at 5:30 p.m. Open mic at Area 23 at 6 p.m. Thursday Rees Finley at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Matt Langley outside The Hotel Concord at 5 p.m. Bend the Ride at Eagle Square...
The Granite State is home to lots of breweries
As you’ve probably realized by now, New Hampshire is a hopping place when it comes to the beer-brewing scene.Over the previous eight pages, we gave you a closer look at some of the breweries within the Monitor’s coverage area. But we know that some of you like to travel even farther than that to taste delicious beer.So we came up with this handy-dandy list of some of the bigger spots around the state that you can visit, try some new...
‘Apollo 13’ to be screened at Rollins Park on Thursday night
Concord Parks and Recreation’s popular Movies in the Park series wraps up for the year Thursday evening with a screening of the 1995 film Apollo 13.The movie tells the story of the dramatic Apollo 13 mission to the moon in 1970, in which a catastrophic failure on the spaceship forced the crew to abort their mission to land on the moon, in turn creating a much more important mission – getting back home alive. After we just celebrated...
Voting for the 9th annual Cappies has begun
We know you’ve been waiting patiently to hear these words: Voting for the 9th annual Cappies is now underway. That’s right, through the end of April, you can cast a ballot for your favorite local spots for fun, food, living, shopping and health and beauty in the Capital Area People’s Preference Awards. The voting is broken down into the five aforementioned categories with more than 80 subcategories to write-in the establishment you...
Lakes Region Shakespeare company to bring ‘Measure for Measure’ to Eagle Square
There are a lot of great venues in Concord to see a live theatrical performance – the Concord City Auditorium, the Capitol Center for the Arts, the Bank of N.H. Stage, Hatbox Theatre, just to name a few. There are also some great outdoor spots to catch a concert, from Bicentennial Square to the patio at Cheers to the lawn next to Concord Public Library. But how often do you get to see a live theatrical performance under the open...
Entertainment: Comedy, lectures and live music abound in Concord this week
We have another busy week on the entertainment schedule, just in time for the first days of April. There’s plenty of comedy on the docket to keep you laughing and lots of music to keep you dancing, and plenty in between. Enjoy! Music Tuesday Scott Solsky at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Comedy Open Mic at Area 23 at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday Rob Wolfe at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Open Jam Night at Area 23 at 7 p.m. Thursday Paul Hubert...
Bulletin Board: Comedy Club at Tandy’s Pub returns Thursday
VNA offers newly bereaved group Concord Regional VNA is offering a Newly Bereaved Discussion Group on Tuesday, Aug. 6 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Concord Regional VNA Hospice House, 240 Pleasant St. Groups are held on the first Tuesday of each month at the same time. This session provides grief education and support for those who have experienced the recent loss of a loved one. Registration is not required. For more information, please...
Get in tune at Concord Community Music School’s annual Performathon this Saturday
Folk, Broadway, jazz, vocal, classical and world music will fill the day as the Concord Community Music School opens its doors (at 23 Wall St.) for its free annual Performathon & Community Open House on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Performathon features music school students, alumni and faculty playing throughout the day in the beautiful Recital Hall to entertain and raise money for the Financial Aid Fund, which provides...
Boston area TV stations are shifting this week – but they’re still easy to find
Monitor staff Many Boston-area TV stations are shifting their spot on the airwaves this week, requiring people who use over-the-air antennas to rescan their television sets to find them again.WMUR-TV in Manchester is not among the stations that will be changing. Cable systems and those using satellite dishes are not affected.The move is part of long-running shift in the nation’s broadcast spectrum, squeezing together TV stations that...
Downtown: A second life on Hall Street
Monitor staff There’s new life on the corner of Hall and Hammond streets.Head inside the squat building that used to hold the Sandwich Depot and you’ll be greeted by coral-pink walls decorated with Mediterranean scenes and the business’s first few dollars. A display case offers sandwiches on marble rye, homemade American chop suey and mixed salads.From the tiny kitchen half-open to the dining room, Emin and Nina Mujakobic sing out a...
On Display: Look what Robert Dorr can do in 60 minutes
Robert Dorr is pretty well-known in these parts for his embroidered jewelry work.He’s a juried member of the League of N.H. Craftsmen and has a studio at Kimball Jenkins Estate. But what you may not know about Dorr is that for the first 60 minutes of each day (at least most days), he sketches. He turns on the coffee pot, puts on some music and pulls up an inspirational image that will help develop each sketch. He likes to start with a...
City Manager’s Newsletter: Pool season extended, National Night Out, construction projects and more
On Friday, Stefanie Breton, the city’s public information officer, sent out the weekly City Manager’s Newsletter. You can read the full newsletter by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the Newsletter button on the home page. Here are some of the highlights:National Night Out at Rollins ParkJoin the Concord Police Department, several other departments, organizations and businesses for National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 6 in Rollins...
Missed Connections: Concord folks looking for love on Craigslist
And here we are again with another thrilling – and, at times, slightly disturbing – installment of Missed Connections, in which we find people in Concord looking for love in the most logical place – Craigslist. The following listings were posted to the classified ad website within the past month or so. As always, we run these in all their unedited glory. Also as always, if you’ve ever found your love through Missed Connections, tell...
Fascinating fantasy twosome of Redick, Goss coming to Gibson’s Bookstore on Saturday
Head to Gibson’s Bookstore this Saturday for an afternoon of fascinating fantasy as two award-winning authors, Robert V.S. Redick and Theodora Goss, will be at the bookstore to discuss their latest works.Redick (The Chathrand Voyage Quartet) will present Master Assassins, an epic fantasy about war, fanaticism, betrayal, demonic possession and brotherly love. Zafri Hinjuman was never meant to be a soldier. His brother Mektouh was never...
Finals set for CCEH talent show in October
Twelve local acts have made it through the elimination rounds and are ready to captivate the audience at the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness’s inaugural Talent Show on Oct. 5 at the dazzling new performance venue in the heart of downtown Concord, The Bank of NH Stage.The performances will feature voices soaring higher than the dog tricks, sizzling dance moves and a chef performing a choreographed piece on his Cyr Wheel, a...
Bulletin Board: Music lecture, poetry and memorial service
Fundraiser for local marathoners Local athletes Jeremy Woodward and JR Linden are hosting an Evening of Inspiration and Giving at the Bridges House (Governor’s Mansion), 21 Mountain Road, on Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Woodward and Linden are both running in the Boston Marathon on April 16, and are hosting this event to raise funds for their respective teams: Tedy’s Team and Credit Unions Kids at Heart Team. The evening will be...
Book of the Week: ‘Scandal Above Stairs’
Scandal Above StairsJennifer Ashley2018, 309 pagesHistorical mystery It is 1881, and Kat Holloway is in command as the cook at Lord Rankin’s elegant home in London. Lord Rankin is away, and his sister-in-law, Lady Cynthia, stays there with her relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Bywater. Cynthia is young and gets into scrapes with her friends, shockingly wearing men’s clothing at night when they go out. Kat is an excellent cook, and she is also...
On the Road: Tim went to Vegas and had to go see the Grand Canyon
During a family trip to Las Vegas earlier this year, Tim made the couple-hour journey to see one of the world’s most famous holes – the Grand Canyon. And he brought a copy of the paper to prove it. If you’re going on vacation, bring the latest edition of the Insider, snap a couple photos and send them to news@theconcordinsider.com with all the details of your trip. Thanks!
This Week in Concord History
Aug. 6, 1728: A grant creates the Plantation of Suncook (an Indian term meaning “place of the goose” or “rocky place”). Massachusetts grants the land to the 47 soldiers and survivors of an Indian-hunting expedition to the north known as Lovewell’s War. Francis Doyen of Penacook, one of Lovewell’s soldiers, is believed to have been the first white settler. Aug. 6, 2000: About 20 people gather along the Merrimack River near Concord’s...
